Benchmark: return the bigger value of two variables

Tests:

branched
const a = 5 const b = 2 const max = (a, b) => { if (a > b) { return a } return b } max(a, b)
ternary
const a = 5 const b = 2 const max = (a, b) => a > b ? a : b max(a, b)
math
const a = 5 const b = 2 const max = (a, b) => a * (a > b) + b * (b > a) max(a, b)

Rendered benchmark preparation results:

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Previous results

Test case name	Result
branched
ternary
math

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated 24 days ago):

LLMs can make mistakes. Check important info.

**What is tested?**

The provided JSON represents a JavaScript microbenchmark test case, which measures the performance of different approaches to find the larger value between two variables.

There are three individual test cases:

1. **Branched**: This approach uses an if-else statement with explicit branching (`if (a > b) { return a; } else { return b; }`) to compare `a` and `b`.
2. **Ternary**: This approach uses the ternary operator (`a > b ? a : b`) to compare `a` and `b`. The ternary operator is a shorthand for an if-else statement.
3. **Math**: This approach multiplies one variable by 1 (which doesn't change its value) and another variable by 0, then adds the results together (`a * (a > b) + b * (b > a)`). This approach uses bitwise operations to determine which variable is larger.

**Options comparison**

The three approaches have different pros and cons:

* **Branched**: This approach can be more readable and maintainable, as it explicitly states the condition and the code that follows. However, it may lead to slower performance due to the branching.
* **Ternary**: This approach is concise and often preferred in modern JavaScript code. It's a good choice when you need to make a simple comparison. However, some people find ternary operators less readable than explicit if-else statements.
* **Math**: This approach uses bitwise operations, which can be more efficient in terms of CPU cycles. However, it may require more time to understand and maintain the code, as the relationships between variables are not immediately clear.

**Library usage**

None of the test cases use any JavaScript libraries or frameworks that would affect the performance measurement.

**Special JS features or syntax**

The `ternary` test case uses a special syntax called the ternary operator (`?:`), which is a shorthand for an if-else statement. This feature was introduced in ECMAScript 1999 and has since become a standard part of JavaScript.

**Other alternatives**

If you wanted to measure the performance of different approaches to find the larger value between two variables, you could also consider:

* Using a switch statement (`switch (a > b) { ... }`)
* Using a recursive function to compare `a` and `b`
* Using a custom-built comparison function
* Measuring the performance of using a built-in JavaScript method like `Math.max()` or `Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER`

However, these alternatives would likely have similar performance characteristics as the three approaches tested in this benchmark.

Latest run results:

Run details: (Test run date: 4 years ago)

User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/83.0.4103.116 Safari/537.36

Browser/OS: Chrome 83 on Linux

View result in a separate tab

Test name	Executions per second
branched	868210176.0 Ops/sec
ternary	868451008.0 Ops/sec
math	863787392.0 Ops/sec

Related benchmarks:

return the bigger value of two variables (version: 0)

Comparing performance of: branched vs ternary vs math

Created: 4 years ago by: Guest

Jump to the latest result

branched

ternary

math

Suite status: <idle, ready to run>

Experimental features:

Fastest: N/A

Slowest: N/A

Autogenerated LLM Summary (model llama3.2:3b, generated 24 days ago):